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If you have been following this space, I have been shooting film for a while now. I am certainly no Influencer Expert, I just love the thought process that film makes me go through. Recently I published a post where I go into the why I started shooting film again and briefly glossed over what could go wrong (HERE). Well, today we go full wrong!
Film photography looks cool. it gives that vintage vibe that many people search for. But it requires a bit more thought, since every shot costs ($) more. Shooting a burst of photos in this case is not ideal, since each roll, more than likely you didn’t get for free. You can count the price per roll as a con against film. You can also add the time it takes to develop each roll as a con against it. The chemicals that you need to use to develop also cost money. Another con. The chance to get the developing process wrong if you are a newbie. Add it to the list. Oh you don’t develop at home and you mail it. Well, you also have to pay for that. And don’t forget to pay for the scans. And God forbid the post office loses your package! it already happened once by the way.
There are plenty of things that can go wrong with film and should stop you from shooting it. And I want to cover as many as I can here. Showing your masterpiece to your audience after you take the shot is not allowed. You can’t see the shot until after you develop it. No chimping! In one of my recent rolls I underexposed two rolls. The pain that corroded my body was indescribable. Allow me to dig deeper on this one. With digital cameras we have the metering included in the camera. Which is great. Some film cameras like the AE-1 Program from Canon has. Other don’t. And with vintage cameras, you run the risk of it being broken. Like the Pentax Spotmatic I use. In this case, you either get an app on your phone or a dedicated Light Meter. The advantage of digital is that it is hard to meter wrong. Since what you see in the viewfinder is what you get. Not on film. You are at the mercy of your own performance and knowledge. Don’t forget to set the ISO on the camera if it has an included viewfinder. Or for get to meter for the specific speed of the film you are using.
I don’t want to fear monger here. To prove it, I have to add that metering has been absolutely fine. Except for that one occasion where I metered Kodak Gold 200 at 400. The result, underexposed photos. The problem with underexposing in film, is that you don’t record any information on the film. You are basically leaving blank spaces on the film. Leaving the film with blank chunks. Think of it as engraving on the film with sunlight. With film, it is better to have some information rather than none. Meaning, might be safer to overexpose rather than under. Another issue with underexposing is that the photos show a high contrast between highlights and shadows. This happened with my medium format camera, which does not have a light meter. I was in a rush and swapped from Portra 400 to Gold 200. Forgot to change the settings on the light meter and here you have it. Not my best photos (Gallery right above).
It is worth adding that with any camera, digital and film, there can be mechanical failures. I have experienced some but 60% are my fault. Again, trying to kill the fear mongering and assure that these have been user related. I have had a couple of instances where the sprocket did not take the film properly and was not advancing the film. Either the film would advance slower than intended or all the exposures were taken on the same film area. A rookie mistake that if I had confirmed that the sprocket was advancing the film properly would have solved it. Another time I ran into the issue that the film ripped where the sprocket grabs it. I had to lose a couple more exposures until the area advanced completely. Making sure that the rest was not ripped and was able to advance.
Yes, shooting film can be expensive. Yes, shooting film can be time consuming. Yes, shooting film can be a more manual process and allow for more mistakes. Then why the heck do I keep shooting film? I keep shooting film because I f@cking like it! It might be more of an emotional satisfaction that digital photography just doesn’t give me. To me, these are almost two different worlds. I love shooting watches with my digital camera. There is no better way and it gives me an extreme satisfaction if I nail the lighting and composition. Film, I love it because it makes me think more. It gives me some boundaries that I need to respect. But at the same time, I need MAKE a photo in my head and make it a reality with the tools given. Like playing soccer on the street with rocks as goals. The same game but different approach. The goal of this post is to let you know that whatever you shoot, you are not alone. We all mess up and we should learn from it. Remember that the camera does not make you a good photographer, it is you that MAKES the photos.
Now go out and make photos,
DL
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